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Old Testament Law
"You have to be able to understand the cultural and historical context fo the verses in the Bible if it's to make any sense. You need to know who it's written to, why, and why it was important." - Dr. Bob '' '''The Law in the Old Testament' is written by a Jew for Jews. It's not addressed to any Gentile at all. Christians need not follow any of the laws about who is ritually pure enough to enter the courtyard of the Temple. At the crucifixion of Jesus, the thick, thick veil that enclosed the Temple was torn from top to bottom, a symbol of the fact that anyone can enter into the presence of God because of Jesus' sacrifice. The Law doesn't apply to Christians and was never meant to. You have to be able to understand the cultural and historical context of the verses in the Bible if it's to make any sense. You need to know who it's written to, why, and why it was important. 'Purpose of the Law' After God led the Israelites out of Egypt, he offered them a deal. He would protect them, love them, and care for them, if they'd follow his rules. They were all for it. The rules God gave to the Israelites were designed for three purposes: #They served as a way of keeping the Israelite people separate from the polytheistic pagans that lived all around them. #They were a testament to the faith of the Jewish people in their God. #They kept them ritually pure and clean. You'll find all of that in the book of Exodus. The rules appear (mostly) in Leviticus. Those rules weren't followed by the pagan, and they weren't addressed to them. The pagans didn't need to be ritually pure, attest to their faith in the monotheistic God, or kept away from other pagans. The context makes that clear. 'Living as a Testament' The Israelites lived among pagan people, many of whom used sexual ritual in their worship, some of whom may have used human sacrifice and other such practices. The Israelites believed that they were instructed to be different than the polytheistic pagans they lived among, as a testament to their belief in God. They also were to be ritually pure in very specific ways by dressing, behaving, eating, and cleaning themselves by a certain set of rules. They believed that their Temple could be defiled by impurity of any sort, and so some specific behaviors, left unchecked, could bring danger and judgment upon them all. Those laws of cleanliness and diet and dress were given to those people as part of their religious practice, and they were of the utmost importance to all of the Jewish people. Today we would be appalled at a person who didn't feed their children; in 3400 B.C., a Jew would be just as appalled by a child who was disobedient and irreverent to their parents. Allowing that disobedience to continue brought judgment on all of the people, those Jews believed. The prohibition on being disobedient was not an excuse to kill kids; it was a punishment established to prevent the infraction, just like today some places have the death penalty to prevent murder. Those commands were addressed to Jewish people in Jewish scriptures by a Jewish author coming from the God of the Jews. They were never 'directed to anyone else. Jews didn't ride across the landscape, killing the disobedient children of other peoples. They understood that the commands were addressed to them and them alone. 'The Law being Fulfilled Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. By being crucified and rising from the dead, he did indeed fulfill the need for Jewish ritual sacrifice, and eliminated the need for Jews to obey these rules. At his crucifixion, the Bible says that the sky went dark and the veil to the Temple (an extremely thick tapestry that covered the entrance) was torn from the top down to the bottom, signifying that anyone could access the Holy of Holies, what was thought to be the presence of God. 'Gentiles and Following the Law' After Jesus' resurreciton and ss Christianity began to spread, both Jews and Gentiles began to follow Jesus' teachings. The Pharisees who'd become Christians -- the same guys that Jesus said were too legalistic -- were now worried about the Jewish Law for followers of Jesus. They said that if Gentiles were going to follow Jesus, they ought to stick to Jewish Law, too. The Apostles met to discuss if the new Gentiles that were becoming Christians should be required to follow the Law of Judaism or not (you can read about this in Acts chapter 15). Peter said that he'd seen the faith of the Gentiles was just as effective of that of Jewish Christians. Paul and Barnabas described how they'd seen Gentiles heal others like the Jewish followers of Jesus. James, Jesus' brother, said that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient for everyone, and that the Law of Judaism had been an unkeepable burden on their necks and the necks of their ancestors. It was agreed that the Law was no longer necessary. 'Jews and the Law Today' The Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. With no Temple, most Jews today think that they do not have to worry about ritual purity any longer, since there's no Temple to defile. (Orthodox Jews do indeed keep these Laws, however.) So God didn't change his mind. He fulfilled through Jesus the need to follow those Laws. The Law didn't go away. It wasn't changed. It was completed. 'Related Topics' *Bible *Bible Taken Literally *Christianity *Context *God is a Bad God *Judaism *Old Testament Value Category:Dr. Bobisms